Volunteer ambulance officer of almost 50 years stood down amid investigation
A regional community has backed an ambulance volunteer after he was stood down from his role.
Rob Berlin, an experienced volunteer ambulance officer for the South Australian Ambulance Service (SAAS) for nearly half a century, has been stood down amid allegations. This decision has prompted concerns about the staffing capacity of the Pinnaroo ambulance station, which serves a population of around 760 people and is located 240 kilometers east of Adelaide. Some local volunteer ambulance officers have walked out in protest at Mr Berlin's treatment, raising doubts about the future of the local service.
The SAAS has stated that they are committed to conducting a fair investigation into the allegations, but they deny that the online information circulating matches the facts of the situation. The organization is unable to comment on confidential individual matters. However, local leaders, including the Southern Mallee District Council mayor, Ron Valentine, and MP Jason Virgo, are calling for an independent investigation into the matter.
They argue that the lack of representation for volunteers and the difficulty in finding replacement volunteers could jeopardize the service's future.
The Pinnaroo ambulance station relies on a small number of volunteers to operate, working closely with the Lameroo station. On average, the two stations respond to fewer than 10 emergency calls per week. In response to the staffing concerns, the SAAS has arranged for an additional volunteer from outside the town to support the Pinnaroo station while the availability of local volunteers is down.
Written by urgent.news from ABC News AU's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
